Resource 4: Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible

The Inspired Version of the Bible – JST

The Joseph Smith Translation (JST) of the Bible, also known as the Inspired Version (IV), was written by Joseph from 1830 to 1833. Our eighth article of faith states that “we believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly.” Joseph, in relating this belief, stated:

“I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors.” (DHC, vol. 6, p. 57.)

So Joseph took up the pen and worked through the Bible three times during that period, making inspired additions (sometimes lengthy), an occasional deletion, and sometimes changing the order of verses. These enhancements helped clarify the text, enhancing our theological understanding and harmonizing occasional conflicts.

Watch for a brief demo:

The Translation Never Finished

Joseph never completed his re-translation of the Bible during his lifetime. We know he wanted to go back through with his greatly expanded doctrinal understanding later in his life. He just didn’t get to it before he was murdered. What we do have though, are some wonderful additions and clarifications of the scriptures. There are a number of great doctrinal enhancements made by the prophet during this work and we are fortunate to have access to these inspired scriptures.

Why do we use the King James Version?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints uses the King James Version of the Bible for perhaps two reasons.

First, we don’t use the JST because Joseph never finished his inspired translation so we do not know what other modifications he might have made.

Second, the LDS church does not even own the copyright to the JST. When the saints headed West to Utah, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS, now Community of Christ Church) held the copyright and later published this as their authoritative Bible.

The LDS church has negotiated permission to use many of the JST passages in the LDS edition of the scriptures, both in the footnotes, and an area at the back of the published Bible for the longer passages.

Here is an article on the background of the Joseph Smith Translation if you are interested in more information.

So What’s so Great About the JST?

The JST contains numerous valuable doctrinal contributions to the Bible. Moses chapter 1 is essentially a missing chapter from the beginning of Genesis. Numerous other passages contain lengthy doctrinal clarifications. One of my favorites is the expanded section in Genesis 14 where we learn of the priesthood power given to Melchizedek to bring his people into the presence of God. We will utilize the JST throughout our studies on this site, and I strongly encourage you to get a copy you can easily put your hands on.

Using the Joseph Smith Translation most effectively in Your Studies

This is an amazing resource that sheds new light on some difficult or lacking sections in the scriptures. To utilize the JST in your studies, we have now added a 1-click link into the program similar to Blue Letter Bible, Bible Hub, and the LDS Citation Index. You have two options from the link button.

If you click “Joseph Smith Translation” you will be taken to the full text of the JST on Glenn Wiskur’s ScriptureToolbox website.

If you click “Inline” on the right, you will be taken to the very cool Inline comparison by Glenn Wiskur. This is an amazing resource. Glenn ran a comparison of the King James Version to the Joseph Smith Inspired Version and every change is noted with red strikeouts for what Joseph removed, green highlights for what he added, and plain white for what remained the same.

For example, read the green and white. Then read the white and red for the original KJV (a little tricky). Where a verse number was changed by Joseph, you’ll also see that in green or red (the verse identification can admittedly get a bit confusing in these early Genesis chapters).

This image shows JST Genesis 8:5 which is actually Genesis 6:3 at the beginning and starts just before this text. You can see the 4 is marked out in red where Genesis 6:4 would start, but JST Genesis 8:5 contains that text.

Genesis 10 is where the JST and KJV go back to being on the same chapter and verse for the beginning of chapters.

I have organized all links from the popup box so they should take you to the exact verse in the JST. Please report any errors you may find.

 

Access in Printed Form

Some of you may still prefer or in addition want a paper format. Here are your options.

Side-by-side comparison of the KJV and JST only showing the verses Joseph changed (link)

Full copy of the JST Bible (link)(Keep in mind this is sold by the Community of Christ Church (formerly Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (RLDS)) so other books on this site such as the Doctrine & Covenants, will actually have different content from the edition sold by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Also available from them is this three Bibles compared (JST, KJV, Revised Standard Version)(link)(this is listed as 69 pages so I am not sure what you’re getting since the side-by-side comparison book is about 500 pages).

Access Other Free Online Resources

JST at Lds.org (this contains the longer passages not shown in footnotes to the scriptures)

Centerplace.org (this is the website of the Community of Christ church that holds the Joseph Smith Translation copyright. To get to the scriptures, you hover on Library at the top, then Scriptures, Holy Scriptures Inspired Version Menu, and then either click the top link to access the scriptures, or the third link to see a comparison of the IV to KJV.

Scriptures.byu.edu (This is the LDS Citation Index website mentioned in the last resource blog entry. If you click on one of the books of the Bible on the left, you’ll see two menus to get to the chapters. You can select from the KJV at the top, or the JST on the bottom. This doesn’t have a comparison feature like some of the books or the Centerplace.org site provide so those are valuable resources for that type of study. I assume BYU has licensed the JST content though I don’t see notification on this section of their website.)

 

Also visit LDS Scripture Study Aids for more resources.